Bears to add tight end Kevin Brock to practice squad

The Bears will fill an opening on their practice squad today with tight end Kevin Brock, his agent Dennis Boyev said.

Brock, a Rutgers product, signed as an undrafted free agent with the Carolina Panthers, was claimed off waivers by the New York Jets in August and spent six weeks on the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this season.

He was a part-time starter for the Scarlet Knights last season and made 23 receptions for 241 yards in the final nine games last season. The 6-5, 255-pounder began his college career as a wide receiver.

The Bears have been dealing with some injuries at tight end. Desmond Clark is expected to return to practice this week after missing the Philadelphia game with a neck injury. Greg Olsen walked out of the locker room Monday with an ice pack on his left knee. Kellen Davis appeared to tweak an ankle in the loss to the Eagles.

The opening on the practice squad was created when running back Kahlil Bell was promoted to the 53-man roster on Friday.

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Kevin Brock will be a nice project for the Bears. He had 23 catches through 9 games in college. Not off the wall numbers, but solid for a college tight end. As a former receiver, he obviously has soft hands. The next question is, at 255lbs, how is his blocking?

When healthy, Olsen and Clark give the Bears a pretty good combo at the tight end position. And Kellen Davis looks to be a keeper. He's come on nicely in his second season. Davis will probably be Clarks eventual replacement in a season or two. I like the players Chicago has at tight end. The offensive line is where the Bears need help.

Running back Kahlil Bell was a pleasant surprise coming off the practice squad, why not move up another player from the ol practice squad, like maybe tackle James Marten. The season is done, Chicago is not a playoff team and the main problem is the running game/offensive line. Chicago needs to fix this for next season, why not start now? Bell was a nice start, maybe in a season Forte & Bell can give the Bears a nice one two punch at the running back position. Something the Bears haven't had in awhile, two legit runners. That was a problem area only having one back in Forte, maybe Bell can be that second guy? Its sad that it took an injury to Wolfe for the Bears to take a look at Bell. Now with Bell on the active roster he can get the much needed reps that he couldn't on the practice squad. If he's the guy, he'll now be much more polished going into next year. I say move tackle James Marten up and see what he has to offer at tackle. Chicago needs to move Chris Williams over to left tackle for the remainder of the season. Thats where he will be next year, why not get him reps there now? Then on the right side see what tackle Kevin Shaffer can do. If he doesn't show anything, give Marten a shot, maybe in late december. Again, just to see what you have in Marten. Angelo obviously liked him, he tried to get Marten last year. I think Chris Williams will be a lot more effective on the left side, and if Marten can show something on the right side, your on your way up front.

As far as a left guard, there is no one on this roster that can help, keep Beekman there for now. I like Beekman as the Bears eventual center. He's got nice size for the position at 6-2 310lbs, and I think will be a much better fit there vs at guard. Left guard is need #1. The Bears have no 1st or 2nd rounder, but, you don't necessarily need a first day pick to get a good guard. A lot of guards slip on draft day. As things stand right now, remember its still early, Chicago has got a good chance at some nice prospects at the position in this aprils draft. My guy is still Alabama's Mike Johnson. Johnson is a projected 3rd rounder, I think he'll be there for Chicago. Johnson is a three year starter at a major college program [Alabama]. He was SEC player of the week in week 11. He's got nice size at 6-6 305lbs and scouts say he is a very good interior run blocker. They like his quick power steps to turn defenders efficiently and ride them out of the way to create holes for interior running, this is key. Another nice prospect is Jon Asamoah of Illinois. He's a projected 2nd rounder but could slip to Chicago in the 3rd. Asamoah is also strong inside and scouts say he can move DT's well out of holes to create running lanes, again, Chicago needs this type of player at the left guard spot. Angelo needs to start drafting linemen, Chris Williams and Josh Beekman were a nice start. I know a lot of people are down on them [Williams & Beekman], but you gotta give these young linemen some time to develop. Right now the Bears need a left guard, this aprils draft would be a nice place to land one to continue to build that offensive line through the draft, the way your suppose to, just an opinion GO BEARS!!

LOL! Kevin, do you work at Halas Hall or something? Are you their non-Larry Mayer hack that's been assigned to this board to keep the sheeple in line? Hopefully someone over there is paying you, as there's no other conceivable reason to take tard homerism to a level that borders on parody.

after watching the colts and the pats play on sunday, you can see what a mess the flagship franchise of the nfl is in. either there's noone in the organization (a contridition ) that can evaluate talent, or there is no coaching ability on the staff. this, however, is nothing new. this has been going on since mike mccaskey fired jerry vanisi.

Kevin, why not bring in Brandon Rideau Tall,Good Hands, staight armed a guy in the red zone for a td! who was the leader in TD grabs. nbc news poll fans did not want him cut! I say put Devin Aromashodu who is soft and bring in and bradon now and start him.put devin hester back to what he does best kicks and punts. devin should also be used as a running back and possible screen pass and use him in trick plays,wildcat and may unique formations.Move Greg olsen to a wide out and put this new tight end to block before Cutler gets injured.If what your doing doesnt work try something new! 6 games to see what you have and what you need to get rid of!

try these guys doh! u already did, and only one has the game of Cutler. How many ProBowlers are there? How many Super Bowls are there?
And u really believe it's Cutler? We have an aged Offensive Line, not a single one of our Olinemen would start for a great team, (Colts/Pats/Vikings etc...)
We don't have a single WR taht would qualify as a No. 1 on any of those teams or alot more. We basically have no running game, no good pass blockers, and lets see how much more bad can we throw on here, oh yeah Ron Turner would not be Coaching on any of those great teams, but the mighty football knowledge of king kong says it's the QB. Please get some NFL knowledge before trashing another QB and trying to run him out of town like you and all the media/boo birds did to the other QB's. When will clowns learn? It's not `My Achilles Heel' IT'S ANGELO PPOOR DRAFT RECORD! No probowl players except the only one we traded for worth a $rap, but nooooo, it's the guy that was a pro bowler untill he came to the ppoor bears. What a joke chicago bears fans and media are, no wonder the McCaskeys have taken all ur money lolol

Kevin I was getting into what you wrote, sounded really good but then someone messed it all up. ;) The next 3 posters put it in perspective....
Really sounded good and it may be so, but how many years do we have to wait on this ship to float half way up? Do you still think Gaines was worth a 2? Wouldnt that 2 be nice in next years draft, with all the Dline/Oline help we need? and a legit top DE? and what about the wasted year on Omiyale? Your lineup sounds better than the one Lovie wasted the year on (not to mention we all wanted a Vet WR) maybe they will bring back Moose? and then blame it on Moose or Ron R.

I know this is unrelated to the post and my apologies, but I just read this on the espn site, and I believe it is too important to pass up:

An unnamed source told the NFL Network the Bears and Houston Texanswould excite Bill Cowher, the former Pittsburgh Steelerscoach and current CBS television analyst. Two sources close to Cowher told the NFL Network they believe he is more ready now than at any time since retiring after the 2006 season to return to coaching, but he will remain very selective about his next move.

Cowher has reportedly made it known he will not make a decision on a team until after the season out of respect for coaches, such as Lovie Smith, who are not out of a job yet, and Cowher's current employer, CBS.

Cowher, who went 149-90-1 in 15 seasons as the Steelers' coach and won a Super Bowl after the 2005 season, is expected to command as much as $10 million a year.

Jeff Dickerson

Please for the love of God let us get Cowher! We need his disciplinarian ways for our team who is very disorganized. I know, I know he wants more than $2 a year which will make it harder for the McCaskeys, but for the love of God, for the love of the fans, and for the love of success, please hire him!

Beekman is in his 3rd season and has been benched twice. Williams so clearly does not belong in a man blocking scheme its not even funny. "Oh move him to the left that will fix it." Last I checked but not only do the Bears run more to the left, you have to be a better pass blocker as well. Williams has been bad at both and pentalties are killing the team. Loadholt a second round pick is better than Williams at both pass and run blocking. Williams is in his second year and every tackle taken in the first round has played much better than him.

How many years does Beekman need to develop 5 or 6? Its funny how so many teams fine linemen in the top 5 rounds who are able to start and play well and the Bears just can't seem to do it and some fans insist on letting these Metcalf's stay on the team and let the QB get killed so they can have 5 years to bust out instead of 3.

Oh look another TE. Didn't we cut a better TE than this guy before camp broke. Oh thats right we did. Now we can wait for the draft and see if Angelo and Lovie can find another idiot jumping out of pools.

I hear they want a new "O" coordinator.....who cares??..As long as Lovie and JA are still there and their love for D. Manning, G. Wolfe, T. Harris, H. Hillenmeyer. etc. etc... Clean house, top to bottom, NOW!!!

Creighton the entire line is a zone blocking type of linemen not power. As per usual this team draft or signs for one thing and thinks it can turn them into another thing and when it doesn't they ruin the player (see Manning and Omiyale bio.). I believe Martz is a divisive type of coach and we would be better off if he stayed in the studio.

First, I have to say that Angelo has worn out his welcome here in Chicago. Possibly Lovie has also and definitely Ron Turner. Angelo has a history of horrendously bad drafts so unless he can get someone in here who can run a draft and manage the scouting he needs to be gone. You cannot build a team with late-round picks when all of your money (and attention) is focused on 1st and 2nd rounders who never pan out. Maybe that's why Angelo thought it was a good idea to send a 2nd-rounder for someone else's BUST.

Second, I have to ask why is everyone bashing Kevin? It's not like he was making apologies for Angelo or Lovie he was actually providing something more substantive than "DURR LOVIE AIN'T GOT DA PASSION AND DA FIRE DURR". I don't agree with Kevin at times, but he's actually trying to offer a solution rather than simply clamor for change that's not likely at all to happen.

Third, Beekman is our future center. PERIOD. He's actually the only lineman on the team this year that I feel comfortable with. He's a solid run blocker and needs to improve on his pass blocking but he's more than adequate. We can't have Pro Bowlers at every position so I am OK with him being around for a couple years because it's obvious Kreutz and Pace are done.

Fourth, as far as Chris Williams I think we move him to left tackle now and see what we have in Shaffer at RT. Williams, I am afraid, is a bust. I've seen him get absolutely mauled way too often this season. It's time to plug him in at LT and see what he can do. He was supposedly NFL-ready coming into his rookie year so let's ditch the Orlando Pace experiment because he's done and see what we have in Williams. I'm afraid the answer will be "jack shiat" but if he doesn't get a shot how are we going to know?

Fifth, I do like the addition of Kalil Bell in the backfield. I watched him (as most of you know I'm a USC fan) for years in the college ranks and liked him. He's a hard runner but lacks the top-end speed. He'll be a good straight-line runner to compliment Forte's cutback style.

Finally, where to go from here? With all of the glaring weaknesses this team has how would you fix it? Not quite sure yet but will have the next 6 weeks and the rest of the offseason to think about it. My best advice would be fire Angelo, Phillips, Turner, Babich and give Lovie one year to turn it around. Of course, that only works if you have actual football people come in and run things. Let's face it, the McCaskey's are the Jerry Angelo's of hiring. Angelo drafts athletes and tries to turn them into football players. McCaskey's hire accountants and try to turn them into football people.

Will be posting my plan later on my blog for anyone interested. Will do a double post to here in a follow up thread.

I think before the Bears do anything, someone should sit them down to discuss what identity the team wants to develop when it becomes an NFL franchise.

JA made a colossal mistake by dropping Cutler into this mess. As it is apparent now, this team is not and was not ready for Cutler. It lacks the coaching philosophy and the talent to compliment Cutler's skills.

No one in this organization understands or can articulate what is the Bears' identity. All we can say with some clarity is what they are not:

They are not a punishing football team.
They are not an opportunistic football team.
They are not an offensive minded football team.
They are not a successful football team.

Compare the Bears to the Steelers. For the past 30+ years the Steelers have been largely a successful organization because they understand their identity. First and foremost, they are a punishing football team. They try to wear you down on offense AND defense. They find players who compliment that identity. Sometimes they are wrong about a player, but the organization usually recovers pretty quickly. They are much more successful in the draft because they understand the type of player they want on their practice field and in game situations.

They have had much less turmoil, hand-wringing and the ongoing soap opera that plagues the Bears front offense because -- again -- they understand who they are.

Until the Bears can articulate their identity, this organization is going to go in circles.

Everyone can jump on or off the Ditka bandwagon, but at the start and end of the season, you KNEW the Bears' identity. They played smash-mouth football and tried to knock the snot out of their opponents. Yes, Ditka was a screamer. Yes, he became too much of a distraction towards the end of his run with the Bears, but he understood the Bears identity and to a very large degree delivered it year in and year out.

Wimpy Mike McCaskey won the power struggle with Ditka and ever since, the Bears organization has slid down the side of the mountain into relative obscurity. Yes, once or twice each decade, we might have a successful (read "surprise") season, but because the organization doesn't foster an identity, the Bears fall off quickly.

I don't believe there is another organization in the NFL that has drafted so many "projects" yet failed so often to turn them into players. I don't believe there is another organization in the NFL that pencils its starters in at the beginning of training camp, but uses ink to write their names. We don't compete for starting positions on the practice field and it has been clear this entire season that we don't compete on the playing field.

We are neither quick, nor athletic. We are neither tough, nor punishing. We are neither crafty, nor smart. We are neither disciplined, nor well prepared.

Until this organization articulates an identity, hiring a new GM and coach is a moot point. Cowher, given his pedigree, identifies closest with the Bears' identity of the past. However, I don't believe Jay Cutler would be his type of QB.

The Bears need to determine who they want to be. Right now, they are being run by a rich kid who is more focused on the marketing dollars generated than the product on the field.

Ever since the 2006 Super Bowl appearance, this current organization has become too full of themselves. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Angelo and Lovie fell into the trap of believing they -- and they alone -- had the secret elixir for reaching NFL nirvana.

The past three years have illustrated they simply got lucky in 2006.

I hope the Vikes put 40+ points up against the Bears this weekend. This organization, this comedy of errors, deserves it.

Seedy you are both right and wrong, yes they have a identity it's the same as the GM and coach it's misleading, says a lot of nothing and never changes. This team has assummed a identity it has no fire like it's coach it looks confused on both offense and defense like it's GM and if full of bargains like the McCaskeys, yes they are a punishing team, but it's only the fans that are punished, the team has drafted a bunch of projects because it's coach was hired as one and he isn't panning out either. It's nice to dream but they will never hire a real football man in the GM job because it cost too much. But since they are so cost concience hire a good GM/Head coach get two for the price of one.

Church,
Agreed on all counts, but the weakest part of this organization is a blind devotion to pet projects, which prevents us from being able to find out what any of the young players on the roster can do. Williams at LT, Beekman at C, and Omiyale at either tackle spot, and that's just on the offensive line. We will go into January with more questions than answers, and a hearty dose of hope and wish instead of film and evaluation to base next season on. We will not know whether Gilbert can play, or whether Toeaina can be a nose tackle for 2010, or whether we can afford to jettison Vasher in favor of a younger, less expensive player in Moore.

We will get a new offensive coordinator, and maybe promote Marinelli to DC so Lovie can "focus more on the offense" next year, but that will be it. We will hope and wish that some great coach is available after 2010, when Lovie's contract is up, and come out disappointed when we have to hire a bottom of the barrel guy with no head coaching experience. Like Burgess Meredith says in Grumpy Old Men, "You can wish in one hand, and take a cr@p in the other, and see which one fills up first." I for one am tired of being asked to accept crap. This needs to change, or we will be the Rams of the next decade....

Seedy: I'm sorry man but I've got to disagree with you here having someone come in the blog and root for the Bears to get blown out to me is not right. Someone of your caliber should know better, we know this team has disappointed us all, but never would I ever root for a Farve based team to blow out my team, no matter hao I feel about management, First and foremost I'm a BEARS fan, and I want a respectable product on the field. I say let things play themselves out and then in the off-season make some corrections, change direction or whatever, but Damn just beat the slackers and beat Farve, that would make all our thanksgivings enjoyable. You still my man though Seedy...keep bringing it!

Da coach, I'll be looking for what you got, I like Beekman too and I've pointed out several times that Olin is done, he was a solid player for us but just like with Mike Brown when its time to move on, move on, at least in Beekman we have a servicable replacement for now, problem is Coach if we put him in for Kreutz now who do we have for left guard???

My take on this whole season is that I would still do the Cutler trade over again, but in the draft I would have picked an O-lineman with the picks used for DJ Moore and Freeman, normally you can get guys there you can use and play right away. I know we gave the LG job prematurely to Omiyale, the money spent there should have went to receiver, but this deal was done before we got Cutler. I think Omiyale will end up at RT next season and I agree with kevin LG is what we need to get deperately in the 3rd round, take the money we save on O-pace and try to bring in a FA agent to help out at Receiver but I think a year in the system will help out Cutler, Knox and Bennett who has really played well despite the bad record this year. Still I think our guy at O-ccordinator will come from the EAgles staff and Mark Whipple is the guy to me, he's the third guy there behind Reid and Morniweig and has plenty of experience, plus as we saw from last week's game they have an offensive approach that would do well with what we have already in place in Chicago. Issues still remain on defense, I'd try to bring in Ty Culver from the Steelers to shore up our Safety issues, understand he's a FA and he can bring the wood, just ask Olsen. That's it for now I'll check in later to see what Coach and Kevin, and others put outhere.....

I hear you Seedy, this team does need an identity. I mean if this was my team, no doubt about it. I would need to see and feel more cowbell from them. I am telling you, I gotta have more cowbell from this team.

By the way my names Creighton, yes the Creighton, and I gotta tell you the Bears have a chance to be a dynamite team. They just need more cowbell.

Right, back in the day..Doug Plank, Gary Fencik, guys would HIT somebeody, these guys need some magic beans it seems ;], somethin,

Yeah, we were all looking for Oline in the draft, but once again.....
and I really don't mind wanting to lose, sure Lovie is owed what? 10m, so the only way is to lose, and not give the McCaskeys mo money, mo money, mo money. or would you rather continue with these jokers? Look at the players Angelo got us last year, dang how can the man spend his paycheck? The same with the Turner play calls, and If anyone wants a shot at Cower/M.S. it would be best not to win too many more, and the way we have played - piece of cake.....crumb cake

Go out there and hit somthing!
It is weird how the WR were off routes early and now Jay is off, we shoulda got that big WR that would jump.